Momentum
Travel Teams

The Travel Teams for 2024 are:

1. Ministry Experience Travel Teams – Dates: Monday, June 10 – Wednesday, July 3, 2024 – Location(s): East Coast Team(MD/PA) & West Coast Team(CA/AZ). These teams will experience some of the best ministry models available on the two different coasts. Students will be equipped through hands-on ministry experiences across multiple settings and will have opportunities to learn and work with churches, non-profits, and ministries in these regions.

2. Worship Ministry & Tech Travel Team – Dates: Thursday, June 27 – July 20, 2024 – Location: Midwest(OH/IN). Students will learn from some of the best worship and creative arts ministries and ministry leaders while touring through Ohio and Indiana and ending at Momentum Youth Conference. For students interested in leading the music of worship, training will include worship leading, song selection, music production, recording and specialized coaching. A video audition will be part of the final selection process. For students who are interested in the technical production of worship, training will include setting a stage, use of audio, video & lighting equipment for use in a ministry setting. Students will also gain valuable recording, editing, and software skills to seamlessly integrate technology in a worship experience. Together the worship ministry and tech students will learn all aspects of producing a worship experience. 

The Ministry Experience Travel Team headed out to the West Coast, learning and doing ministry in Southern California, as well as Phoenix, Arizona.

The Specialty Travel Teams: Worship Ministry Team & Worship Tech Team, were in the midwest, learning and doing ministry in Ohio and Indiana.

The Ministry Experience Travel Teams are scheduled to begin Monday, June 10 and end on Wednesday, July 3. These two teams[East Coast Team & West Coast Team] will not include Momentum Youth Conference, July 16 – 21, 2024, as part of their tour, though students are encouraged to consider attending with their student ministries from their church.

The Worship Ministry and Tech Travel Team, is scheduled to begin Thursday, June 27. This team will include Momentum Youth Conference, July 16 – 20, as part of the experience as students will have roles in serving there. The trip will end on July 21 at the conclusion of youth conference.

Applications for the 2024 Momentum Travel Teams will open on September 1, 2023, here on our Travel Team Website.

A $250 discount will be available for those who submit a full application September 1-30, 2023.  

Applications for the 2024 Momentum Travel Teams open online September 1, 2023.

Applying for the Ministry Experience Team(s) involves 3 steps:
1. Complete the Online Application
2. Have your Parents complete the Parental Consent Form
3. Have your Pastor or Youth Leader Complete and Submit the Church Reference Form (which will be emailed to your Pastor once you submit your online application)

Applying for the Worship Ministry & Tech Team involves 4 steps:
1. Complete the Online Application
2. Have your Parents complete the Parental Consent Form
3. Have your Pastor or Youth Leader Complete and Submit the Church Reference Form (which will be emailed to your Pastor once you submit your online application)
4. If you are applying to be on the Worship Ministry side to lead music (with an instrument or as a vocalist), you’ll receive instructions to submit an Audition Video once you have submitted your online application (this is not required for Students applying for Worship Tech).

Once full applications are received, they are then reviewed by the Travel Team Staff, who will then send acceptance letters to students and their families (via email & mail). Students have 30 days from the date of their acceptance letter to pay their $250 confirmation deposit which will secure their spot on the team.

Once the confirmation deposit is received, students will receive a financial statement which provides financial deadlines along with instructions for setting up a GiveButter page – our online fundraising platform (our staff is available to help as needed!).

Depending how early they apply, students typically have 3-7 months to fundraise towards their financial goals. This is one reason we encourage students to apply early – so they have plenty of time to raise their full funding to reduce, or eliminate, the cost out of pocket.

All funds are due by June 1, 2024.

• The full support total for the Ministry Experience Travel Team(s) is $2,500.
• The full support total for the Worship Ministry and Tech Travel Team is $2,500(this includes registration to Momentum Youth Conference).

The cost for a summer ministry team can seem overwhelming when you look at the total and wonder how you can possibly raise those funds. You will want to check out the FAQ on what is included in this cost – the number of days of tour, where the tour is traveling, staffing costs, and hiring quality adult leaders who are ministry professionals can all have an impact on the support total. Here are some additional thoughts from our staff, as well as past parents and students, regarding finances/support money as it relates to Travel Teams…

• All Travel Team students receive $1,000 in scholarships to either Grace College or Lancaster Bible College for being on a Momentum Travel Team. And, if they complete the 5-month Faithfulness program after Travel Teams, they get an additional $1,000 per year, up to $4000 total! As one parent said last year “My child, who is going to Grace College, is actually getting our entire investment back, and then some!”

• It counts towards community service hours (which are often required for awards/scholarships) and it looks great on a job résumé. We are often asked for the total number of service hours so they can be listed for school requirements or scholarship applications – Travel Teams is the perfect way to get credit for those hours! We have known a number of students thru the years who got extra scholarship money at their chosen school because of all the activities thru Travel Teams that they were able to list on the scholarship application.

• When comparing other trips, make sure it is a like comparison and includes all housing and meals. The average sleepaway camp can average about $150 a day. The full support cost for the Ministry Experience Travel Team in 2023 was only $55 higher than the last two years even though the inflation rate is 8.3% currently! AND, there are opportunities to lessen that full support total by applying early and recruiting friends to also go. And think of the money you’ll save at home on your weekly food budget when you don’t have to feed your teenager for three weeks!

• The average Travel Teams student raises at least half of their support just by making the need known and many raise it all with little out of pocket – if you are willing to get the word out, you will probably be surprised and blessed by how God provides. Our giving platform, GiveButter, is a great way to share your trip with family and friends and will help you track your progress very easily. And, there is the potential of scholarship help, available by an application process in late spring, that is need-based.

• It’s a great way to depend on the Lord and see how He works in meeting the need. We have never known a student who applied who was not able to attend, only because of finances, in 50 years of running our Momentum Travel Teams!

THE COST OF GOING ON A TRAVEL TEAM INCLUDES…
• A confirmation deposit from the family, upon acceptance, to secure the student’s spot on the Travel Team – $250
• All Food and lodging for the entire trip
• Travel Team Journal, Team Shirt, Discipleship materials, On Track Devotions, and other training materials
• Equipment (ex. rental vans & luggage vehicles, fuel costs for vehicles, tour supplies, mailings)
• Expenses on tour (ex. Food, laundry, shower rentals, parking fees, etc.)
• If flying to orientation, transportation from the designated airport to the orientation site and transportation to the designated airport at the conclusion of tour.
• Staffing, leader expenses

Need-based Scholarships are available and are done through an application process.

Transportation from your home to the orientation site and transportation home after Travel Teams is over.

Our Travel Team Leaders are experienced ministry professionals & volunteers who love working with students and are actively involved in their local church!

Momentum Staff recruit leaders who are known and trusted partners of Momentum Ministry Partners and each of the leaders goes through an application process with references and a background check.

Students will also receive training from our Momentum Ministry Partners staff.

Each year is a bit different, depending on the amount of applicants, where the tours are going, and leadership needs and ratios. A typical size team for our Ministry Experience Travel Team is between 15-24 students and 3-5 adult leaders. Our Specialty Travel Teams are usually smaller and have between 10-12 students and 2-3 adult leaders.

We use a “home base” model for our team housing, which means a designated location to house our students and leaders together for most, if not all, of the orientation and tour. Travel Team students generally sleep on the floor, unless the “home base” location has access to sufficient beds for the team. Students will need to bring a sleeping bag or other bedding (ex: air mattress, sheets, etc.).

Regarding safety, all leaders go through an application process with required references and submit to a background check. All of our leaders who will be driving any vehicles go through a driving course for safety certification.

All leaders go through standardized training regarding safety issues and wise decision making. No student is ever left alone, whether in a community service opportunity or assisting the church with ministry. There will always be at least two students together.

Each team has one leader who is designated as the leader responsible for the health issues on the team—leaders travel with health information that parents/guardians provide. Should a health issue arise with a student, leaders will do their best to contact parents/guardians to see how they would like the situation handled.

A packing list will be provided to guide you in what to take on Travel Teams. You are limited to one suitcase, one overnight case or gym bag, a backpack, and one sleeping bag and pillow.

Absolutely. Whether the student is diabetic, gluten free/celiac, lactose intolerant, or even allergic to certain food items like nuts, we are open to working with the student/family as far as what they may need to bring with them on tour and what we can provide. We would ask that if you have any questions about this, you contact our Travel Team Staff at travelteams@buildmomentum.org.

Students may bring a cell phone. Phones and chargers will be collected during orientation, and students will be given periodic access to their phones to call parents weekly and potentially update social media as applicable–students are encouraged and provided opportunities to call home.

iPads and computers should be left at home.

Givebutter is the online platform we use so Travel Team students can quickly and easily raise funds for their Travel Team experience. When a student is accepted, they’ll receive lots of materials, including instructions (it’s easy, we promise!) to set up a Givebutter fundraising page and what to post. Once that is done, students can copy the URL to their personal fundraising page and send that out to friends, family, church members, and others. Acceptance materials will also include strategies and suggestions for raising funds for their trip! Supporters can visit the page and make a donation through each student’s Givebutter site and those donations will be immediately credited to that student.

Momentum Ministry Partners will also promote the Givebutter site to our supporters and encourage them to make donations to individual students. So we recommend that students set up their Givebutter page right away so that they can be included in those fundraising promotions!

One reason we use Givebutter is that it is a free platform for Momentum Ministry Partners, and Givebutter does not retain any of the donations made. That means on Givebutter, the full amount of each gift is given to the student’s participation costs. You will see places on the Givebutter site which suggest a ‘tip’, which is an additional amount to the gift. Tips are completely optional. Givebutter collects these tips to support their operating efforts, which allows the platform to be free for organizations like Momentum Ministry Partners. We leave that choice completely up to the individual making a gift.

If any supporters wish to send a check for their donation instead of paying by one of Givebutter’s virtual methods (credit card, venmo, paypal, applepay or googlepay), they can find instructions for that on the student’s Givebutter page. When we receive these checks, we will add them to the student’s Givebutter page, so students can always see their current fundraising total on their page.